Background
The greater warmth, Galleria mellonella, has been in used since the 1960s as an invertebrate model organism for the study of pathogen infection and host immune response. The waxmoth larvae are particularly amenable for this field of study as they exhibit melanisation in response to infection - which is used as a readout of disease severity. In comparison to other non-mammalian model organisms, Galleria larvae are particularly easy to dose due to their large size (up to 3 cm prior to pupation) and, critically, they can be raised at 37°C which allows for optimal growth conditions of human pathogens within the host.
Over the last 10 years, the field has rapidly expanded and publication numbers using Galleria larvae as a model organism have increased sharply. Despite this, infection readouts generally remain limited to melanisation scoring, immune cell (hemocyte) counts and organism death - although more recent work has expanded into transcriptomic profiling of larvae following infection.
Aims of the lab:
1) To generate transgenic Galleria mellonella that fluoresce in distinct tissues/upon immune challenge for more quantitative infection readouts.
2) To better the understanding of the immune cell landscape in Galleria mellonella
Why is this important?
The approach of the lab
The greater warmth, Galleria mellonella, has been in used since the 1960s as an invertebrate model organism for the study of pathogen infection and host immune response. The waxmoth larvae are particularly amenable for this field of study as they exhibit melanisation in response to infection - which is used as a readout of disease severity. In comparison to other non-mammalian model organisms, Galleria larvae are particularly easy to dose due to their large size (up to 3 cm prior to pupation) and, critically, they can be raised at 37°C which allows for optimal growth conditions of human pathogens within the host.
Over the last 10 years, the field has rapidly expanded and publication numbers using Galleria larvae as a model organism have increased sharply. Despite this, infection readouts generally remain limited to melanisation scoring, immune cell (hemocyte) counts and organism death - although more recent work has expanded into transcriptomic profiling of larvae following infection.
Aims of the lab:
1) To generate transgenic Galleria mellonella that fluoresce in distinct tissues/upon immune challenge for more quantitative infection readouts.
2) To better the understanding of the immune cell landscape in Galleria mellonella
Why is this important?
The approach of the lab
